Photos of the Day: Jan. 24

Jan. 24, 2013 4:50 p.m. ET

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MACHETE MAN: A man posed at his home Thursday in Mopti, Mali, with a machete that he said he carries to protect himself in case he is attacked. French forces are in Mali to help government forces fight al Qaeda-linked militants.
Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images…

BACK HOME: Florence Cassez, who served seven years of a 60-year sentence on kidnapping charges in Mexico, hugged her mother when she arrived in Paris Thursday. A Mexican court cited procedural and right violations in Ms. Cassez's release. She said she lived at a ranch where kidnapping victims were held, but she didn't know they were there.
Yoan Valat/European Pressphoto Agency…

YES! Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrated after winning his semifinal match against Spain's David Ferrer at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday.
Quinn Rooney/European Pressphoto Agency…

SEPARATE: An ultraorthodox Jewish woman looked through a hole in a curtain in the women's section at the wedding of Miryam Teitelbaum, granddaughter of Grand Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum of the Satmar Hasidic Jewish movement, in Beit Shemesh, Israel, Thursday.
Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency…

TRANSIT STRIKE: Athens metro employees on strike peered out from a gate in Athens Thursday. The Greek government invoked constitutional law Thursday to force striking subway workers back on the job after they ignored court orders to call off an eight-day strike.
Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images…

HORSING AROUND: A U.S. soldier bench-pressed an Afghan soldier before they went on patrol in Maiwand, Afghanistan, Thursday.
Andrew Burton/Reuters…

AT ATTENTION: Ladakh Scouts of the Indian army held a full dress rehearsal Wednesday in New Delhi for India's Republic Day parade.
India Today/Zuma Press…

FUNERAL: Simona Costache placed her hand on the coffin of her husband, Romanian engineer Tiberiu Costache, who was killed during a hostage crisis in Algeria, at his funeral in Tătărani, Romania, Thursday. The standoff at an Algerian gas plant resulted in 37 hostage deaths.
Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press…

MANY VERSIONS: A professor surveyed hundreds of student paintings that had to be graded at a university in Jinan, Shandong province, China, Wednesday. The paintings are part of a provincial entrance exam for the fine arts.
China Daily/Reuters…

FLYING TOGETHER: A flock of starlings flew over a field near Netivot, Israel, Thursday.
Amir Cohen/Reuters…

ON THE CATWALK: A woman toting luggage used a walkway to navigate flooded San Marco Square in Venice Thursday.
Andrea Merola/European Pressphoto Agency…

FIRST EDITION: A man read Thursday's first edition of the newspaper El País in Madrid. The newspaper reprinted the edition after discovering that its front-page exclusive photograph showing ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was a fake. El País had received the picture from an agency, Gtres Online.
Andrea Comas/Reuters…

PROTEST SCENE: An injured protester was carried as people fled from tear gas being fired by police during clashes near Tahrir Square in Cairo Thursday. Egypt will soon mark the second anniversary of an uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power.
Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters…

NATURAL SETTING: A Hindu took a dip at Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers in Allahabad, India, Thursday. Millions of worshipers will gather in the city to take a ritual bath during the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage.
Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images…